The Mythical Revolutions of American Psychology

The history of experimental psychology in America is typically told as a series of two Kuhnian revolutions separating three periods of normal science dominated by the mentalist, then behaviorist, and finally today's cognitivist paradigm. Models of revolution developed by T. S. Kuhn, I. B. Cohen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 1992-02, Vol.47 (2), p.308-318
Main Author: Leahey, Thomas H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Development
Experimental Psychology
History
History of Psychology
Human
Psychology
Theoretical Orientation
USA
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Summary:The history of experimental psychology in America is typically told as a series of two Kuhnian revolutions separating three periods of normal science dominated by the mentalist, then behaviorist, and finally today's cognitivist paradigm. Models of revolution developed by T. S. Kuhn, I. B. Cohen, and R. Porter are described and used to formulate questions and criteria for investigating revolutions in experimental psychology. The history of the behaviorist and cognitivist "revolutions" as seen by contemporaries shows that each was in fact a period of rapid but continuous and nonrevolutionary change. An alternative, narrative framework for telling psychology's story is suggested in terms of guiding themata and the progressive development of four research traditions: representationalist, realist, connectionist, and reductionist.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.47.2.308